Where Bonds May Break
by Kuriyan BBQ
Summary: On a group vacation to Lava Lake Beach, Kelly breaks up with her boyfriend after a day of things escalating to the breaking point. What could someone who's experienced a break up of their own say to help? What has been left unsaid until now?


_**Author's Notes: Hello everyone! As the new episode "Lava Lake Beach" approaches and the fandom continues to stir about all of these feelings up in the air, I decided it was time to channel some of my own feelings in a way that helps me make sense of it all. I can't see the full picture, but I know that this will help me cope with the final moments that remain. Please enjoy the story, and thank you for tuning in.**_

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The skies of Mewni were painted like a gorgeous canvas on this warm evening. It was a stunning and picturesque day at the secluded Lava Lake Beach, complimented by a sunset that commanded attention. Yellows, reds, purples, indigos and all manner of colors in between were blending together to create the perfect evening. With such a vista above alongside the provisions of rich, beautifully flowing lava, perfectly heated springs of water, and a coating of fine, glassy sand below, the stage was set for the perfect end to a perfect vacation's day.

If only the day had actually _been_ perfect.

The scenery was truly something to behold, but Lava Lake Beach was almost always quiet. Despite the locale's beauty, it was seldom visited due to the danger involved in reaching the place. Only a skilled and determined group of individuals or those fortunate enough to already know its location were likely to find the place. Dimensional scissors were really the only reliable means of reaching the place, given the wielder knew where to place the cut.

Where most beaches would expect crowds of playing children and excited families, instead, sprawled out on the sand, a huddle of friends, exhausted and quiet were all it had to offer. Sprawled out on the soft, warm sand were Star, Marco, Pony Head, and Kelly. The girls were leaning closely together, hugging it out after the day's events, while Marco sat close by lending a sympathetic ear.

"I- _ **sniff**_ _-_ I just wish things didn't have to be like this" Kelly squeaked through her tears.

"I'm so sorry, Kelly. These things take time, and I know it's not easy."

"...I've always said you were too good for him anyway, gurl."

Star rubbed Kelly's back while Pony Head rested against her arm, the two trying as best as they could to comfort their sullen friend. Kelly was overcome with guilt and a broken heart. Just a while ago everything was normal... or at least, almost normal. The group had gone to spend some time together at the Butterfly Family's "volcation home" at Lava Lake Beach. Star had wanted to offer a good time for her friends, including Kelly and Tad who had been arguing a lot more lately. Something was off, and Star had just wanted to fix the problem. Hours of trying to push them together and remind the two why they have been together for so long ended in failure over and over again.

The two bickered and bickered, and nobody could understand quite why. Whenever they had fights before they would just 'break up' and get over it. They'd puff themselves up and look the other way for a few days and then things would patch themselves up on their own. This time, they just kept at it, the pressure built as the two came to resemble a powder keg, waiting for the spark it needed to erupt. When Star and the others realized why things were so tense, it had already been too late.

Tad had knew it and Kelly had too, but it wasn't until she noticed Tad looking at other girls that Kelly had knew their time together was coming to an end. Star, Marco, and Pony Head tried so hard to give them alone time to work things out. They wanted the two to have a great time and stop arguing, but all their nudging managed to do was accelerate the process. They had a shouting match; Kelly told Tad he was being unfaithful while Tad called Kelly untrusting. When they finished hurling insults and started to calm down, Kelly knew it was time. The two had stopped caring about each other; perhaps they never really cared about each other in the first place. They agreed that it was time to move on, and that they didn't understand one another enough to be together anymore.

It was the mature thing to do; they had shared a proper goodbye and Tad took a portal home. The weight of this goodbye was so heavy… they had never gone their separate ways with quiet, dim eyed words and thick tension. They all knew that this time, Kelly wouldn't just be able to shake it off. It was a catastrophic end to an already tense and difficult day, and the group had no idea how to make things better.

"I'm sorry, Kelly. I just wish I knew how to help," Star said with somberness in her voice.

"Part of me wants to believe that maybe I just need to wait a little bit longer. _**-sniff-**_ Maybe things will fix themselves again if we just take another break."

"Kelly," Pony Head began, "I've seen that look before, and it wasn't an "everything's gonna be fiiiine" kinda look. You know that you two can't turn back anymore after all of _that_."

Kelly felt defeated. "I know it was the right thing to do… but it just feels wrong." She wiped a few tears from her eyes and took a few breaths before finding the will to continue her though. "We've been together for most of our lives, I don't know anything but 'us'. Everything was so easy with Tad. We had fun together, and he always came back for me."

Star was at a loss. She knew what she wanted to say, but something inside of her made her hesitate to give the advice she knew she had to give. Nevertheless, she had to be there for Kelly. Kelly was there for her when she needed it, after all.

"Kelly, relationships are never easy all the time. You can never really trust someone if you don't allow yourselves to go through tough times together. The bad times test how strong your bond is, and a bond that breaks every time it is tested is never going to be all that strong."

It hurt to say that, and Star didn't know why. Didn't she know that was true? Didn't she experience that truth firsthand in her own life? Her heart felt a twinge as she straightened herself out. She believed it really wasn't the time to be think about herself.

"But I still have these feelings somewhere in me. I already miss him, and I'm going to miss all of the time we spent together. Doesn't that at least mean something? How do I really know for sure that this was the best thing for me?"

"Kelly, I-" Marco chimed in shyly.

The girls looked over at Marco, all a bit surprised, but expectantly.

"I think I know how you feel. I think that maybe Star's right about this."

"But, aren't you with someone you've been chasing your whole life?" Kelly didn't mean to sound so harsh, but she couldn't control herself through her lightened sobs. "How can you know what this feels like?"

"Well I-I… We're, uh, not together anymore either."

Kelly's eyes widened as she realized the implications of his words.

"The girl I was with, Jackie, she broke up with me a few weeks ago. She didn't want to, I know she didn't… and I really didn't want her to either."

"But why?" Kelly replied. "What happened to you guys?"

Star was now listening with cautious intent. It hadn't really occurred to her that she never worked up the nerve to ask Marco about what happened between the two of them. She didn't realize just how much she wanted to know now that it had come up again.

"I struggled so hard to move on after I went back to Earth. Everything felt… different. I was bored, I was constantly clinging to that cape and memories of the crazy battle that happened on Mewni; I was unhappy. When I finally realized all of this, I had already driven a wedge between myself and her. I couldn't even take the cape off for one lousy date. I… screwed up. I screwed up really bad. Jackie and I still care about each other, but apparently I would never be happy staying on Earth, and Jackie just realized that before I could. I wanted her to be happy, but I just ended up making things harder for her."

Kelly continued to calm down as she took in Marco's story. She was glad to have something to take her attention off of the sore subject of her recent breakup, even if it hit close to home. She needed to ask him something important, however.

"Don't you think about going back to her? You still care about each other right? Why can't you just decide to be happy?"

Marco was silent for a couple moments. The others were just hanging on his words, Star especially. She didn't realize how much she wanted to know this until she was hearing it. She was sure that Jackie had broken up with him because of something she did. Why hadn't she come up in conversation? Was he trying to avoid blaming her? Was he sparing her the flak? Did he want to go back to her? She just wasn't sure.

"Of course I think about it. I spent my entire life thinking about what 'could be' and what 'could have been' when it came to Jackie. Even now I realize that she is a great person, and that perhaps we could have worked, but…"

Star almost gulped. Kelly and Pony Head were surprisingly attentive and just kept listening.

"I gave up on us the moment I ran away from her. When I began to feel empty and I got caught up in these painful emotions, I got farther away from her instead of letting her in. I never allowed her space in my life, despite believing it was all I wanted… I guess I understand now what she meant; she never was my best fr-"

Marco bowed his head as he choked on a lump that had formed in his throat. When had he had time to figure all of this out? ' _Best friend… Best friend… It makes so much sense to me now. It wasn't just about Mewni, or the magic, or the danger. It was about…'_

Marco looked at his friends again. Kelly looked visibly shaken by the implications of his resolve. She knew that he was right… and somehow, she knew that she'd be okay. All that Kelly could think about now was the amount of courage and resolve it must have taken for someone like Marco to get back up after having his heart torn out, and she took courage from it, even managing to form a tiny, reassuring smile of her own.

"You really are a great guy, Marco." Kelly said with gratitude in her voice.

He didn't realize it, but Star was shocked by this revelation. He had been so quiet about all of this, and she felt as though she has failed him as a friend for being so afraid to talk to Marco about his own troubles. He's always helping her… even when there's nothing to gain for him. Just these past few weeks, Marco had dropped everything to come and give himself to Mewni and to their friendship. He pushed Star to address her mom about the Monster/Mewman relationship, he went out of his way to cheer her up when her day was rough and exhausting. He even listened to her at St. Olga's about being true to himself, despite it risking the only popularity and respect that he had truly _earned_. All he has wanted to do since he showed up was be there for her again. She wanted to push away these familiar thoughts but she simply couldn't deny them anymore.

All this time, she had convinced herself that it would hurt so much to talk about these feelings that haunt her, hiding in the shadow of her best friend. She said that she wanted to be a better princess, and she truly meant it. What she hadn't meant to do, though, was to use that as an excuse to avoid doing the right thing and instead choosing to take the blatantly correct, responsible-looking choice. She swept her feelings for the Earth boy under the rug, and found herself trying to rekindle her relationship with the demon prince, Tom. He really was trying to improve himself, and it had showed. He was not the same person he was just a few months ago, even if he wasn't perfect.

The realization seemed to come as a huge surprise to her, but perhaps she knew this all along. She was trying so hard to get close to Tom again, thinking it was the mature thing to do. Now she knew; she was taking the easy route again. Tom would never be able to say no to Star, and everyone knew who he was. She knew he would be there for her and, perhaps, she had thought that it was enough. But the truth was obvious to her now: Just like Tad and Kelly, just like Marco and Jackie, they simply couldn't work out, no matter how easy it seemed like getting back together with him would be. She couldn't use him like that, not after working so hard to improve himself and becoming such a good friend to her and even to Marco. Star wasn't allowed to turn back and lie to himself about this anymore, and perhaps she was the last to realize it.

It was time for her to be true to herself, even if it meant disappointing thousands of people. Even if it meant disappointing people she cared about. Even if it meant disappointing herself.

"Hey, Marco," Star said, reaching out a hand to place on his shoulder. Their eyes met for the first time all night. She searched his eyes and found some of that steely resolve that he used to make it through all that he has; she knew that she would need some of it for herself.

"I think we need to talk about something important. Just the two of us."

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 _ **Author's Notes: Thank you so much for reading. Sleep well tonight and remember that we are a great fandom filled with wonderfully passionate members. We'll see tomorrow together, regardless of what tomorrow looks like.**_


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